Snakes Don't Blink
by Dasyuridae
Summary: Clara and the Doctor find themselves in Ancient Greece with the angels. And someone else is causing mischief...
1. Chapter 1

Author note: This is my first fic so constructive criticism is welcome and expected :) Sorry, short chapter.

The door of the TARDIS swung open. Cautiously, Clara stuck her head out, pulling it back in immediately when a stray arrow almost carved half off it off. "You've landed us in a war zone!" she yelled to the Doctor. "I know!" he yelled back. "Isn't it great?" Clara sighed and slowly looked out. As far as she could tell, the plain in front was deserted, which was weird because just a second ago it had been full with shouting Greeks. Now it was just littered with weapon and one or two horses. An investigative bay war horse, plumes and all, trotted over and began sniffing at the TARDIS. Clara shooed it away, then turned around. "Are you coming already?" she shouted.

"Sorry, sorry, just stabilizing the temporal compass. Something big and timey-wimey happened just then. You see anything?"

"Well..." said Clara "They all vanished. Just like that!"

"Sounds about right. But what could do that? And why didn't it get us?" mused the Doctor. "Well, lets find out! I've got a place we can stay. Hop back in!"

Once the TARDIS had landed, the Doctor pulled Clara out and into a nearby house. "You are going to love this!"he grinned at her, then called into the cavernous hall "It's me! The Doctor!"

A pattering of footsteps reached them and a small man rushed in. "It is you..." the little man said. "I missed you, Doctor. And you are?" he said turning to Clara.

"Clara."

"Of?"

"Clara of um, London."

"Where is this London? I have not heard tell of it. No matter! You are a friend of the Doctor's and that is good enough for me. Why have you come?"

"Has anything weird happened lately?" asked the Doctor. "Nice place, by the way. You've upgraded!"

"Weird? I don't know where to begin! Come into the parlour and I'll explain. Aristotle, by the way." he said to Clara, then walked off through a little door.

'Aristotle? ARISTOTLE?" Clara mouthed at the Doctor before following on eagerly.

The parlour was a mess. There was parchment and ink scattered in drifts over the floor, half the table was taken up by a large fish tank, various machines sat around the room and a small colony of uneaten grapes seemed to have set up residence. Aristotle apologized for the mess, then leapt into explanation. "So, all these people keep disappearing. But the weird thing is, sometimes strangers will arrive, and give their family notes and it will say that they've gone back in time, and that they're perfectly happy but by the time the family gets the note, they'll be dead. Isn't that weird? Also there's rumours of a Medusa. But that's probably just poppycock. What do you think?"

But the Doctor was already on his feet. "Do you have any statues, anywhere in your house?"

Aristotle nodded "Many."

"Where? And bring me the largest hammer you can find."

Clara quite enjoyed smashing up all the statues in Aristotle's house. "So, why are you worried?" she asked the Doctor.

"Because everything fits with the Weeping Angels, the Lonely Assassins. They are from the dawn of time, no-one knows where they come from. Basically, if you look at them, they're stone. But as soon as you look away, even if you just blink, they come alive. Then, if they catch you, they send you back in time and feed off the potential energy."

"You've met them before then?"

"Many times." The Doctor looked sad. "But they don't physically kill you. They mentally kill you. Imagine being sent back in time to before you were born, unable to leave or see anyone you knew, ever again."

"Can't you pick them up, in the TARDIS?"

"No." said the Doctor, then smashed a statue's head in. Clara sensed that this was not a point for discussion.


	2. Chapter 2

When all the statues in the house had been found and demolished, Clara and the Doctor went back to the parlour, where Aristotle was waiting. "Well," he began "Now you have finished destroying priceless pieces of art, I have some news. A hunter, Ophelestes, came gibbering into town, crying of monsters and Gorgons. Should I take you to him?"

"Yes!" cried the Doctor. "Let's go! But, while we're outside, don't forget to look for angels." He hefted the hammer over his shoulder. "Just in case." he explained. Quickly, Aristotle scurried outside, the Doctor and Clara hot on his heels.

When they reached the town centre they found Ophelestes still ranting. The Doctor made a beeline for the gathered crowd and begun pushing through. One young man, though, stopped him. "This madman is a danger to public health!" he announced, completely puffed up with his own importance. "No-one may pass!" The Doctor flashed his psychic paper, and after examining it closely, the young man turned pale and waved him through. As Clara followed on the young man stopped her and whispered "Is it true? Is he... A messenger of the Olympian Council?"

Bemused, Clara nodded. He fainted with a sigh.

When Clara finally reached the Doctor, him and Ophelestes were conversing in low, urgent tones. The Doctor abruptly rose and said to Clara "This man will take us to where he encountered the monster. And it doesn't sound like an Angel. We may be dealing with more than one alien at the moment. Where's Aristotle?"

Aristotle was standing at the edge of the crowd. He shouted to them "I'm not coming with you! Remember what happened last time? I almost died!"

"Clara?" asked the Doctor. "Go get him."

Clara walked over, grabbed him by the arm and yanked him over. "You're coming, mister. Oh, and what did happen between you and the Doctor?"

Aristotle simply shook his head and let himself be dragged to where the Doctor and the hunter were waiting. "Right!" said the Doctor. "We're off! And don't forget the Angels!"

Ophelestes led them to a dark forest. "In here." he said, all trace of madness seemingly gone. Clara scanned the trees nervously for Angels, and shuddered as they entered the shadows. The light barely trickled through the dense covering. As they got deeper, following a barely existent path, she saw a flash of stone. "Doctor!" she screamed, pointing. But when he scanned the darkness with his screwdriver, it came up with only trees and dirt. So they kept on, the strange group. The 20th century girl, the Time Lord and the Greek philosopher following a madman through an Ancient Greek forest, towards who knows what. Clara grinned to herself, but kept looking around nervously through the dim light. Finally they saw a small white light blinking in front of them. Ophelestes pointed at it, putting a finger to his lips. As they got nearer, a shape loomed in front of them, dark and forbidding. The small yellow light seemed to indicate and entrance, so they went in, still following Ophelestes. When they were all through the door, he vanished.

"Ophelestes?" said Aristotle. "Are you there?" There was no answer, and as one they swung around but the door had vanished also. Desperately the Doctor scanned the wall with his sonic screwdriver. "It's gone! Just like that! We'll have to keep going..." And he began to walk the opposite way, using the feeble light of the sonic to illuminate the passage. After walking for what seemed like forever, they reached another door, this time with a red light above it. "There's nowhere else to go." said Aristotle and leaned forward to push it. It swung open before his hand and led into a even darker room, if that was possible. Around it's perimeter were twelve of the doors, each with a light above them. Four had red lights, four blue and four of the lights were burnt out. They alternated around the room. As they looked around the door behind them vanished, as the first one had.

**Any ideas? I've given you a few clues as to where this is going.**


End file.
